Lessons With PruCan
by IndianaFerbDragon
Summary: A series of one-shots featuring PruCan awesomeness at school! Each story will be different; sometimes Mattie will be the teacher, Gil will be the teacher, they both will be teachers, etc etc etc. Human names will mostly be used! other countries may or may not be there too. rated for Gil's bad language
1. Story 1

"Mr. Williams, why must we know the exact date of Prussia's dissolving?"

"It's 'dissolution', and because you need to know random little tidbits like that in case you're ever on Jeopardy."

The class laughed, causing their blond teacher to grin happily. Wanting to end the lesson on a good note, he didn't assign homework for the night, and the teenagers chattered like birds as they left when the bell rang.

Matthew Williams straightened his glasses and smoothed down his tie. He had a tendency to move a lot when he was teaching, and today was no exception. Back at the beginning of the year, the juniors and seniors had mocked him for his stuttering and his quiet speaking, but once he got used to them he opened up and showed them world history with such exuberance that he quickly became a favorite teacher. In fifteen years at this school, Matthew hadn't had a single teen fail the Regents test at the end of the year. And in at least 100 years teaching, less than thirty students had failed.

Naturally, none of the students knew about his secret: being the country of Canada when he wasn't at school. The alumni suspected something was weird, especially when their kids had him for history and he didn't look a day over twenty-five, and that would be the year he had to move on to another school. Whenever he left, his good friend and fellow country Gilbert Beilschmidt, aka Prussia, followed him.

Every year there were a few teens in both Gilbert's music class and Matthew's history class, and those teens would try everything to get the pair to 'get together'. The countries found this amusing, and actually encouraged it. For example, they would both say their favorite food was pancakes drowned in maple syrup, and the students had a field day dropping hints that one was a perfect match for the other.

As Matthew attempted to get his hair into some semblance of normalcy, Gilbert strolled into his classroom with his usual greeting of "Hey birdie!"

"Hi Gil!" Matthew exclaimed happily. "Just wait 'til you hear what Tyler said to me before second block!"

"Let me guess, he wants us to chaperone the prom together?"

Laughing, Matthew nodded. "How did you know?"

"He said the same thing to me! How many years have we gone now?"

Matthew took a second to do the math, and said "Almost every year since you w-were…" His voice trailed off before he finished.

"Oh birdie, how many times must I tell you the awesome me is ok with talking about mein dissolvment!" Gilbert giggled while Matthew hissed "It's _dissolution _you dolt! Dissolvment isn't even a word."

Waving his hand as though to brush away the lack of real words, Gilbert said "Anyway, shall we pull out our World War Two uniforms and start coordinating outfits?"

"The students will love that!"

"Ksesesese! Exactly!"

After a few minutes of laughing, Matthew picked up his books from third block and started setting up for fourth block's lesson on Canadian Involvement in the Second World War. While he shuffled papers around, he asked "Hey Gil, why're you up here? Don't you have a class this period?"

"I wanted to see mein awesome birdie, so I got Alfred to sub for me!"

Matthew stared at him, then shook his head. "Really now?"

Gilbert rubbed the back of his neck nervously and blushed. "Actually, one of mein kids wanted me to ask you to dinner at the awesome restaurant she waits tables at, and in order to get me to ask they placed bets on whether or not I would…"

There was a pause in the conversation, during which Matthew raised one eyebrow and closely regarded the albino in front of him. "Is ze awesome Prussia too scared to ask his liebe to dinner?" he taunted, faking a german accent.

Gilbert's blush deepened, and he mumbled "Is that necessary, birdie?"

"Oui! You know you love me, Gil!"

Before Gilbert could respond with a witty remark, two students tumbled into the room. The boys had obviously had their ears pressed to closed door, and accidently opened it in the process of listening in. Matthew jumped behind Gilbert, who was laughing uproariously.

"Why are you two… ksesesese… up here and not at class?!"

"We didn't think you'd actually do it!" the taller of the pair exclaimed. His friend, who was too embarrassed to speak, nodded in agreement.

"The awesome me is asking Herr Williams to dinner at Sarah's restaurant. Run along and tell her that." Gilbert's face was red from laughing, and Matthew's nerves finally settled enough so that he could see who had interrupted their flirting.

"But we don't know what Mr. Williams is gonna say!"

Matthew realized all the attention was on him. "Uh… o-oui I w-will go to dinner avec v-vous," he stuttered, and the teens shared a look of amusment. Gilbert knew they would be telling the class that Matthew had talked to him in french, which every single one of the kids would find romantic.

"There, you have your answer, kinder! Now, get back to mein awesome class." When Matthew muttered "sil vous plait" behind him, Gilbert added "bitte?" to his command.

Giggling, the taller of the pair called back "You gotta come too, Mr. B!" as they left, causing Gilbert to blush again. Matthew hugged him quickly, and gently pushed him to the door.

"Pick me up after school?" the blond asked softly.

"Ja. Birdie, I am sorry they-"

Matthew cut him off by placing a finger to his mouth. "Non, get back to your class. If you stay much longer, they'll think we're making out or something."

Gilbert laughed at that, and kissed the end of Matthew's nose lightly. "See you after school, birdie!" He waved and walked into the hallway, heading back for his own classroom.


	2. Story 2

"Salut mes amies!" Francis Bonnefoy exclaimed cheerfully as he slid onto the bench across the table from his best friends Gilbert Beilschmidt and Antonio Carriedo.

"Hola! You'll never guess what Lovino told me during pre-calc!" cried Antonio happily.

"Did he say 'ich liebe dich, you awesome spanish dick'? Ksesesese!" Gilbert laughed, and Francis snickered.

"What?! No!" Antonio spluttered, blushing, causing his friends to fall against the table in fits of laughter. "We have a new student teacher in English Lit."

"Is she hot?" Francis asked.

Before Antonio could answer, Gilbert said "How would Lovino know that? He is obviously too in love with his awesome boyfriend!"

"Lovino is not my boyfriend!"

"Honhonhonhon! Antonio et Lovino, sitting in a tree!"

Gilbert joined in with the "K-i-s-s-i-n-g" before Antonio could get them to shut up.

"Anyway, the awesome me seems to have gotten the heart of the gorgeous Elizabeta!" Gilbert announced.

Francis and Antonio gave the required 'oh's and 'ah's for the albino's accomplishment, but a moment later Elizabeta Hedervary walked by hand in hand with Roderich Edelstein, who was Gilbert's main rival.

"You are so busted!" Antonio yelled, punching the blushing Gilbert's arm. Gilbert stuck his tongue out at Antonio, who did the same just as Lovino and Feliciano Vargas walked by.

Instantly, Antonio sat up straighter and tried to fix his hair, but Lovino was too deep in discussion with his younger brother to pay any attention to him. Before they were out of earshot, the trio could hear Lovino tell Feliciano, "There is no way I will let you date that potato bastard!"

"Wait a minute! He is talking about mein bruder!" Gilbert growled, trying to leap over Antonio's lap.

When Francis also grabbed onto his arm to keep him stationary, Gilbert gave up. As he sat down, the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Grumbling under his breath, Gilbert followed his best friends to their last class of the day: English Literature.

The trio got to the classroom as quickly as possible so they could meet the student teacher before any of the other seniors in the class. Too their immense surprise, the only adult in the room was the usual teacher, Mr. Arthur Kirkland.

"Are we getting a student teacher?" Gilbert asked, trying very hard to be polite.

"Yes we are, but he seems to be late-"

"He?!" Francis cut across him, surprised.

"Mr. Bonnefoy, I expect you will be staying after for detention?" Arthur glared at the blond, who started to protest. Holding up a hand, Arthur said "I told you, if you made one more mistake in this room I would give you detention. Furthermore-"

Arthur was once again interrupted by the door slamming open.

"I'm s-sorry I'm late Monsieur K-kirkland!"

A tall, blond college student rushed into the room, his tan jacket hanging loosely off of his slim shoulders. He stopped short when he saw that there were other people in the room besides his annoyed mentor. Blinking his violet eyes, the student teacher blushed a brilliant red and tried to make himself invisible. Embarrassed, he slunk behind Arthur's desk and sat down in a folding chair.

Gilbert suddenly found himself being prodded roughly by Francis, who was giggling about something. While other seniors started filing into the room, the trio sat down in the back. Francis was in front of Gilbert, and they were next to the window while Antonio was a row over and on Gilbert's other side. Craning his neck to see the student teacher, Gilbert tried to find out why his friends were giggling.

"Your jaw dropped when he walked in!" Antonio finally whispered, and Francis chimed in with "Notre ami has a crush!"

Blushing slightly, Gilbert protested violently. Then the bell rang, and Arthur shushed the class.

"Alright, first order of business. This," here he gesture to the blond behind his desk, "is our student teacher, Matthew Williams."

His face bright red, Matthew stood up and waved slightly. The class giggled in response, but Gilbert made eye contact with the college student and smiled apologetically. Smiling back, Matthew sat down again and looked around the room. Arthur was reading out loud from a novel, seeming not to notice the soft chatter of his class.

"Gil!" Francis hissed. "What do you think of Monsieur Williams?"

Gilbert, slightly taken aback, whispered loudly "Fuck off, frog!"

"Mr. Beilshmidt! Would you like to stay after school with your friend?" Arthur demanded. The entire class, including Matthew, were staring at the albino, waiting for a response.

"Nein, Herr Kirkland…"

"Then I suggest you shut your bloody mouth." With a smirk, Arthur returned to the novel.

Gilbert could feel the eyes of his friends shooting from him to Matthew and back to him.

"Senor Williams sure is cute!" Antonio whispered to Gilbert, and it took every ounce of Gilbert's awesomeness to keep himself from smacking the Spaniard.

Ignoring the giggles from Francis, Gilbert focused on making a good impression on their student teacher. This lasted for most of the block, until Francis and Antonio caught Gilbert staring at Matthew for the umpteenth time. Both teens dissolved into gales of laughter while Gilbert muttered German curses at them. Arthur, while he had no idea what they found funny, ended up giving the three of them detention.

The bell finally rang, and everyone else in the class left happily. With a sigh, Arthur closed the book and walked over to where the trio sat quivering.

"Why are you three such a nuisance?" he asked, expecting a sassy and sadly-well-timed answer about awesomeness that never came. After a slightly awkward silence, he assigned them each a five-hundred word essay about their favorite food and left them to their own devices. Francis and Antonio noticed Gilbert immediately getting to work, and decided to bug him about it as soon as they got out of the classroom.

"Gilbert has a crush!" Antonio sang as he skipped down the hall.

Racing after him, Gilbert yelled "Shut your mouth! You are practically in love with that Lovino Varg-"

"Mon ami, you have such good taste-"

"Fucking hell Francis! Shut up before mein bruder hears you!"

Antonio and Francis stopped suddenly and looked at each other. Gilbert groaned when he realized he had just given them a brilliant idea, and promptly punched both.

"Do not even think about it or the awesome me will-" Gilbert's threat got cut off by Arthur and Matthew walking by, and the trio were instantly silent until both adults were well out of earshot. Just then, Antonio caught sight of the Vargas brothers and ran to catch up with them, sufficiently ending Gilbert's torture.

English Literature quickly became Gilbert's favorite class, and though his friends teased him, they were never really annoying about it. The albino spent the block trying to catch the eye of their student teacher, and whenever he did, the blond would blush and smile slightly back at him. Despite his best efforts, Gilbert often found himself in detention with Francis and Antonio; this didn't bother him as much as usual, since he got to be near the college student. His friends, if they noticed this shift of priorities, were quiet about it.

Then one class, when the trio was being very well behaved, Arthur said "Boys, I would like to see you after school." The entire class spun around to see what they had done, but even the three had no idea why they were getting detention. They exchanged nervous glances, and crowded around Arthur's desk as soon as the bell rang. Arthur sent Matthew on a trivial errand and waited until the door was closed before addressing them.

"I need your help in getting Mr. Williams to talk to students." He paused, waiting for a response. When none came, he continued. "I'm sure you've noticed that in the two weeks he's been here, he hasn't spoken to anyone besides me. This is concerning-"

"How can we help a teacher?" Francis interrupted, earning a glare and shove from Gilbert.

"I think, since you three are normally after school for detention, it is only natural that Mr. Williams will be most accustomed to-"

"Wait. You want to give us more detention?!" Antonio exclaimed in shock.

Fixing him with a green-eyed death stare, Arthur nodded and continued. "I will give you each extra credit if you can get him to teach the class before he leaves at the end of the year. I will find ways to keep you after school daily-"

"That's three months away!" Antonio interjected, but Arthur ignored him.

"Not a word will be said of this plan to Mr. Williams. You begin today. Am I clear?" Arthur looked closely at them, and they all shifted nervously before Francis said "Oui, Monsieur."

"Good. Now, go write an essay on countries or something." He dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and the trio returned to their seats. Matthew walked in with a box of paperclips, which he silently handed to Arthur.

"Gil! You're so quiet!" Antonio hissed, prodding Gilbert's shoulder with his pencil.

"Ja. I am just pissed that bushy brows wants _us _to make friends with Herr Williams," he answered, brushing off Antonio's pencil but keeping his eyes on the desk in front of him.

"Williams is the only teacher you say 'monsieur' for," Francis observed. Raising a brow, he asked "Why is that, hmm?"

Gilbert blushed visibly, and spluttered "I may be awesome, but I am also polite."

"Since when?!" Antonio practically shouted, startling everyone in the room and causing Matthew to fall off his chair. Arthur coughed stiffly, and Antonio dropped his voice to a whisper before saying again, "Since when?"

Gilbert shrugged and refused to look at either of his friends. He started to write in a loopy cursive that showed both his care-free attitude and his concern for general appearances.

"Honhonhonhon, this isn't really detention, Gil!" Francis said, giggling at him.

"So? We are supposed to make like it is."

With a shrug, Antonio pulled out a sheet of paper and gestured for Francis to do the same. Grumbling, Francis obliged and followed suit.

Fifteen minutes later, Arthur sent Matthew to check on the trio.

"S-s-salut," the blond stuttered, quivering slightly from the effort of being audible.

"Tu parle francais aussie?" Francis asked, seeming genuinely surprised. "You speak frog-language too," Gilbert translated for Antonio.

"O-oui," Matthew mumbled, looking at the tiles beneath his feet.

"Well, bonjour! Have a seat." Francis waved a hand at the desk across from him, and Matthew shyly sat down. "Je mappelle Francis Bonnefoy, and I'm always glad to meet a fellow Frenchman!"

"I'm a-a-actually f-from C-canada," stuttered Matthew.

Before Francis could reply, Antonio jumped in and exclaimed cheerfully "I'm from Spain! Me llama Antonio Carriedo." He held out his hand to Matthew, who shook it timidly. Francis shuddered slightly at being outdone and offered his own hand as well, which Matthew shook as soon as he was free of Antonio.

"I am the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt," Gilbert stated as he shook Matthew's hand. "My family is from the awesome country of Prussia, but mein bruder und I were born in Germany."  
Snickering, Francis said "We didn't ask for your life story."

"I th-think th-th-that's cool," Matthew said, causing three pairs of eyes to rotate and fix on him. He blushed, then added, "S-since we're i-introducing ours-selves, I'm M-matthew Williams."

Gilbert nodded as though this was new information. "Wilkommen to mein awesome group, Herr Williams. Or may I say Herr Matthew?"

His face going a darker shade of red, Matthew said, "A-as l-long as M-monsieur K-kirkland d-d-doesn't mind…"

Francis started to giggle, and Gilbert kicked the bottom of his chair.

"Senor Matthew, why have you ventured back here, anyway?" Antonio asked, oddly strategic for once.

"M-m-monsieur K-kirkland wants t-to know how the e-essays are g-g-going." Matthew gave a slight sigh of exasperation, which caused the trio to burst into laughter. Arthur wisely chose to ignore the breach of his generally quiet classroom.

Looking up to see Gilbert smiling at him happily, Matthew bit his lip nervously and stood up. "M-maybe I sh-should l-l-let you guys f-finish…" Turning on his heel, the blond quickly walked back to Arthur's desk.

Over the next few weeks, the trio got Matthew to whole-heartedly converse with them as though he was a part of their group. Arthur noticed this, and was happy, although he disapproved of the ease with which the trio talked to someone who was supposed to be a teacher. In early May, he overheard the trio asking Matthew if he wanted to hang out at the mall with them over the weekend. The blond was nervous, of course, but when he looked back at Arthur, all he got was an encouraging nod.

"S-sure."

"Tres super!" Francis cheered, high-fiving the college student.

Gilbert smiled happily, and when he caught Matthew's eye, they both looked quickly away from each other.

"Can Lovino come too?" Antonio asked, adding "And also Feli and Ludwig?"

"Mein bruder is not awesome enough to hang out with us!" Gilbert cried, causing the other three to laugh.

"He and Feli are going to a movie, and Lovino is going with them to 'supervise'," Antonio explained.

"Oh, that is ok then!"

"W-what is so b-bad about your p-pettite brother?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Mein bruder is awesome, just not awesome enough to hang out with us!"

Francis coughed awkwardly, breaking up the cute moment of silence that was about to descend between the pair.

"Monsieur Mattie, do you think you'll be teaching soon?" he asked, trying to gloss over the slight blip in conversation.

"Oui, I hope s-so!"

Once again, Matthew caught Gilbert's eye, and both blushed slightly. Noticing the silence, Arthur dismissed the trio from detention.

The following day, Matthew managed to get up the nerve to teach the fourth block English Lit class, although he only got through it by looking back at the trio, who smiled encouragingly.

"I'm so glad that's over!" Matthew sighed, sinking into the desk in front of Antonio.

"You did awesome, Herr Mattie!" Gilbert clapped, and Matthew gave a small bow.

Giggling, Francis said in a fake German accent, "Ja, good, Herr Mattie."

Collapsing into fits of laughter, the group didn't notice Arthur's disapproving glare.

"Why are you th-three here, anyway? I didn't give you detention," Matthew finally managed to choke out.

"We wanted to hang out with you, is that ok birdie?" Gilbert asked, not realizing he had let slip the nickname they had thought up for Matthew.

Francis and Antonio looked wide-eyed at Gilbert, who clapped a hand over his mouth.

"B-b-birdie?" Matthew stuttered, shocked back into being shy.

Blushing, Gilbert nodded. "Ja. We thought you were like a bird…" The albino mentally smacked himself.

"Um… I d-d-don't know how to r-respond to th-that…"

"It's not an insult!" Gilbert quickly tried to cover up his mistake, while Antonio and Francis just looked mortified. "Birds are awesomely cute!"

Matthew's eyes were wide, and Gilbert realized what he had said. "No not like that! I didn't mean that!"

From the front of the room came the sound of loud guffaws, and the group realized Arthur was laughing at them. Now all four were blushing, and they quickly arranged the times for the weekend trip to the mall before the trio retreated.

Outside of school, Matthew loosened up and laughed with his new friends. Without having to worry about the teacher-student relationship, the trio dropped all forms of 'herr' 'monsieur' and 'senor' from Matthew's name, and just called him 'Mattie' (or in Gilbert's case, 'birdie'). Around five o'clock, they found a back booth in a restaurant to have dinner at, and Matthew and Francis sat across from Gilbert and Antonio. At some point, the conversation turned to college.

"I'm going back home to France for culinary," Francis announced, pleased with himself.

"Spain has a good school for equestrian riding!" Antonio said, trying to outdo the teen across the table from him.

"Et vous?" Matthew asked Gilbert, who just shrugged and muttered something about joining the German military.

"But what if you die?"

Gilbert shrugged again, and countered with "What do I have to live for?"

"You could always go to a liberal arts college…"

Francis and Antonio had both gone quiet, listening to the pair.

"For what? Besides, there are none near mein home."

Matthew could tell Gilbert didn't want to discuss this anymore, but he needed to say one last thing, "The school I go to, in C-canada, you could stay with me and go there."

Silence settled around their table. It wasn't quite awkward, but both Gilbert and Matthew were tense as though they wanted to say something. After a minute, Antonio announced that Lovino's parents would be meeting him and Francis at the food court to take them home, since neither had a car. The blond and brunette left, and almost as soon as they had exited the restaurant, Gilbert was around the table and sliding onto the bench next to Matthew.

Somewhat shocked, Matthew leaned back against the wall, trying to become invisible. Gilbert's arms were around him in a flash and the teenager was pulling him gently in for a kiss. To the immense surprise of both, Matthew kissed him back enthusiastically. A few minutes went by, then they had to stop for breath. Panting slightly, Gilbert smiled roguishly at the college student, who looked close to tears. They sat close for a minute, their breath mingling.

"P-p-please… w-why d-d-did you…?" Matthew asked, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Realizing who exactly he had just kissed, Gilbert pulled away quickly; starting to say "I am sorry, I did not-"

"Non, j-je regrette…"

Matthew pushed past Gilbert and hurried away, not looking back.

In the last few weeks of Matthew's student teaching, the blond avoided the trio as much as he could. He never gave them detention when he taught, and when Arthur kept them after school he stayed behind his mentor's desk. At first, Gilbert made attempts to talk to him, but gave up quickly and withdrew into himself. Antonio and Francis never found out what happened after they left, but they didn't dare ask.

Finally, on the last day of school, right before class, Matthew got up the nerve to talk to them again.

"Well, th-this is it. It's been nice m-meeting you."

He held out his hand to Antonio, who happened to be standing closest to him, but Antonio brushed away the hand and hugged him tightly instead. Francis hugged him as well, and they both said how wonderful it was that they had made a new friend. Matthew turned to Gilbert, who was trying to look as uncaring as possible. The blond opened his mouth, then closed it again; he wanted to ask Gilbert on a real date as soon as he was no longer a 'teacher' to the teen, but the albino was smiling slightly, almost smugly, and Matthew couldn't bring himself to ask.

Over the course of the block, the trio did everything they could to get detention. Arthur eventually sentenced them to after school essay writing, and they were perfect for the remaining twenty minutes of class. When the bell rang, Matthew tried to sneak out with the other students, but Arthur called for him to stay. Cowering in the fold-up chair, Matthew kept his eyes down and away from the trio, who were pushing each other and trying to grab what looked like a sheet of paper.

Then Francis and Antonio sidled up to Arthur, sufficiently distracting him while Gilbert walked up to Matthew and took one of his hands. Matthew, carefully averting his eyes, scowled at the desk in front of him and tried to pull his hand away. Gilbert bent and kissed his fingers before releasing him silently, and Matthew looked up in surprise.

"I was wondering if you would like to join us for awesome ice cream after detention," Gilbert asked smoothly, hoping against all hope that the blond would accept.

Matthew seemed to consider for a second, then said simply "Non."

Sighing, Gilbert walked around the desk to stand next to him. "Alright, I did not want to have to do this, mostly because Antonio ate the awesome speech I wrote out." When Matthew smiled at that, Gilbert pressed forward. "What happened at the restaurant, it was awesome but I swear it was an accident. I will not do it ever again, I promise. Would you hang out with us, bitte?"

Staring at him, Matthew looked too shocked for words. The chatter of Francis and Antonio 'distracting' Arthur had diminished to the point that Arthur was completely disregarding what the teenagers were saying.

Slightly desperate now, Gilbert said "Well, I guess that is it. It was nice meeting you, birdie." As he turned to go back to his desk, Matthew stood up and grabbed his arm. Freezing, Gilbert slowly turned back to face him, and was dumbstruck when he found himself being kissed fiercely. Choosing this moment to look back at Francis and Antonio, Arthur said without humor, "Stories that end happily are never any fun." Neither responded, so Arthur just sighed and pulled out his phone, snapping a picture of Matthew and Gilbert.

"You two are still on school property," he said, his green eyes flashing. "Technically, I should be yelling at you both."


	3. Story 3

Matthew Williams sat quietly in the middle of the colorful shape-and-letter rug. There were tiny, stubby plastic chairs in various states of overturning around him, and the walls of the room were plastered with cheerful crayon drawings. A little indoor playground sat in the corner by the door with an overflowing toybox right beside it.

Ever since 1950, Matthew had been teaching preschool kids, in the hope of forgetting his love. He had been at this school for a few years now, and really enjoyed it, but the start of the year was always hard on him. Brushing away the tears that welled up in his eyes, the blond pulled a necklace off over his head and checked it over. It was a black iron cross, a gift from Gilbert a month or so before he died. The thin silver chain was dull after years of constant wear, but Matthew didn't care.

"Salut mon fils," a silky voice from behind him said. Startled, Matthew spun around, quickly shoving the necklace into his pocket. So far, none of the other countries knew about it, and it was a secret that he had kept for over sixty years. A second of confusion showed in his face, then he realized who had walked in.

"Bonjour, papa." Matthew jumped up and walked over to the doorway to hug Francis Bonneyfoy.

"We have a meeting today, remember?"

"Oui, mais today's the first day of school."

Francis sighed, slightly exasperated. "You know that he'll never come back, oui?"

Matthew's eyes went wide. "M-mais… He p-promised he'd be back!"

With a small smile, Francis said "It's been almost seventy years, he's not going to-"

"France! Non! Get out of my classroom!"

Somewhat surprised at the normally nervous country actually showing some pluck, Francis backed to the doorway. Matthew's eyes were red, and he was clutching the necklace so hard it dug into his skin. Just then, a tall, dark-haired man carrying a tiny blond girl strolled into the room.

"Bonjour!" Matthew greeted him, glaring over his shoulder as Francis left, smirking.

"Bonjour Monsiuer Williams," the man said back. "Say hello, Sarah." The little girl in his arms gave a small wave, and Matthew waved back at her. When Sarah was released, she teetered straight for the toybox and pulled out a doll that looked like America.

"There's a little tyke, maybe five years old, outside," Sarah's father said.

"Well, it is the first-" Matthew started, but he was silenced quickly.

"He's alone. And this isn't the first time I've seen him."

At Matthew's quizzical look, the man continued. "When I came here for the first time with Jackson, six years ago, that kid was out there. He hasn't aged a bit."

"Mein Gott…" Matthew ran out the room and past a startled mother and her blond twins. What he had been told was true: there was a small silver-haired boy with maroon eyes, sitting on the curb in front of the building. Looking up at Matthew, the kid scooted away a few feet.

"Non, you're ok," Matthew whispered to him, crouching so they were about the same height. He was certain that this was the younger version of the country he had fallen in love with. "I'm Canada. What's your name?"

The maroon eyes seemed to glare at him, then the kid whispered "New Prussia."

"Will you come here, New Prussia?" Matthew held out his arms for the kid, who, after a moment of apprehension, tottered over and grabbed for his hands. Picking up New Prussia, Matthew walked back into the building, where most of the kids in his class were already playing.

"Is he yours?" Sarah's father asked, confused.

"Non, he's my friend's son," Matthew explained, hoping he wouldn't be asked for more details. Satisfied, the father left, and Matthew placed his new little country on the rug with the other toddlers.

As soon as the last kid was picked up, Matthew scooped up New Prussia and carried him to his car. Matthew tried to learn more about the little albino, but he wasn't very talkative and the blond country ended up mostly taking about himself. Halfway to the world meeting, Matthew realized that New Prussia probably knew very little about languages other than German. Scrunching his face in an effort to remember the snatches of German Gilbert had taught him all those years ago, Matthew said "Gutentag."

New Prussia turned to him excitedly and asked "Sie sprechen deutsch?"

Smiling slightly, Matthew shook his head and admitted "Non, only a little bit."

Confusion shoot across the maroon eyes, and New Prussia didn't say anything else.

Matthew once again held the little nation as they walked into the meeting. New Prussia had discovered the iron cross under the blond's red sweatshirt, and was playing with it, which was precisely what Gilbert had done. Before the meeting started, Matthew located Ludwig Beilschmidt and went over to him.

"I need you t-to teach me German." There was a hint of tentativeness in his voice, but it wasn't a request; it was a demand.

"Why?" Ludwig asked, catching sight of New Prussia. "Is zat mein bruder?"

"Oui. Well, non. He showed up outside my school, so I took him in. His name is New Prussia."

When the toddler realized he was being talked about, he looked around at the country who had once been his little brother, and seemed to somewhat recognize him.

"Does he know who vee are?" Ludwig asked, holding out a hand to New Prussia, who grabbed onto one of his fingers tightly.

"I don't think so, mais I d-don't know."

Growing disinterested with Ludwig's hand, New Prussia went back to playing with the iron cross.

"Will you give him zat?"

Matthew looked at him, surprised that he knew about Gilbert's gift. With a small smile, Ludwig shrugged and explained "Mein bruder really loved you."

A memory from the 20's sparked in Matthew's mind, and suddenly he remembered three more words that Gilbert used to say. Whispering into New Prussia's hair, he said "Ich liebe dich." New Prussia looked up at him, and suddenly recognition clicked into place. The little nation carefully reached up and gently pulled on a lock of Matthew's hair, and, although he didn't know why, he whispered back the same words.

Looking back to Germany, Matthew asked, "Please, teach me German. Sil v-vous plait."

"Alright. But mein bruder comes vit you."

"Oui," Matthew agreed.

New Prussia stared up at them, unsure of who they were, but positive he knew them.


	4. Story 4

"Gil, I'm scared."

"I am too birdie, I am too."

The large gymnasium flashed, followed almost instantly by heavy thunder. Matthew silently stepped closer to Gilbert and slipped a hand into his friend's. A couple teenagers in their classes hooted half-heartedly. As it was every year, the students had suspected something between their teachers, and finally they saw it. Almost the entire school had been sent to sit in the stands of one of the gyms due to a storm cell having moved into the vicinity, and luckily Matthew's history class and Gilbert's music theory class arrived at the same time and were placed next to each other.

"We will be fine," Gilbert whispered softly to the blond next to him, planting an encouraging kiss on his forehead.

"B-but what if the r-roof…"

"We cannot die, birdie."

The personifications of Canada and Prussia stood silently for a second, then Matthew began to cry. A few of the girls in his class stared to walk down the bleachers to the pair, but Gilbert waved them back. He hugged Matthew, who managed to stutter "Th-they m-m-might though, Gil."

"I know."

Another loud boom came from above the school, and the entire student body fell silent as the windows rattled noisily.

"Attention! All teachers report to the main doors!" came a shrill cry from the gymnasium floor.

"Stay here," Gilbert instructed both his class and Matthew's, since their classes had somehow merged into a single group by this point. Some of the teenagers smiled weakly; they were at the top of the bleachers and therefore closest to the ceiling, which was a scary place to be. Shaking slightly, Matthew gently pulled himself from Gilbert's arms and started down the steps to the floor.

As a general understatement, the timid country was terrified. It had been hundreds of years since he last saw a storm like this, and back then he had been under England and France's control, so he hadn't had anything to worry about. Now, in a dilapidated old American highschool with only an ex-country for comfort, he could hardly stand to keep himself together.

Gilbert slid his hand into Matthew's as they walked to the front of the gymnasium. At this point, he didn't care what their colleagues thought; he needed to keep his best friend and lover safe. While his country may have been long ago dissolved, Gilbert still carried the memory of his people's obstinacy with pride, and was determined to protect Matthew at all costs, both physically and emotionally.

"The E wing has collapsed," a disheveled chemistry teacher whispered, silent tears pouring down her face.

The principal looked at her, eerily calm, and asked "Was there anyone in there?"

"No sir, I don't think so."

A murmur of relief filtered through the huddle of teachers. There was little they could do besides keep track of the student body, and this made everyone feel helpless. The building was old, and the lowest part of it was now a muddy mess of brick and tile.

Screeching suddenly filled the large room, instantly followed by the ear-shattering crash of glass. The huge skylight in the center of the ceiling had fallen in, and Gilbert deftly shifted Matthew to stand in front of him as a wave of glass fragments rushed through the air towards them. Reacting in a split second, most of the people in the room turned to avoid being seriously injured, but those who didn't turn fast enough felt sharp pricks on the sides of their heads and faces. Even turned away, a number of teenagers would end up scarred from deep cuts on the backs of their bodies.

Matthew shook, unsure of what had just happened and baffled by the rain that was pouring in and soaking him. A small, watery trail of blood seeped down the side of Gilbert's neck. Concerned, Matthew had the albino turn, and he found the skin of Gilbert's neck had been lacerated, as had the back of his shirt.

"I am fine," Gilbert muttered tightly, feeling the blood oozing down his back.

"I n-need t-to t-t-tell you s-something," Matthew whispered in response, clearly on the verge of an all-out breakdown.

"Tell me when we get out of here."

Cuddling against the slightly shorter country's chest, Matthew said "Wh-what if w-we d-d-don't…"

"We will. The awesome me will find a way."

They stood silent, listening to the cries of students as they discovered their friends' blood trickling to the floor. A number of teachers had gone to calm their classes, and Gilbert and Matthew took that as a cue to head back to their own teens.

The teenagers of their classes had clumped together in a huddle, most hugging friends and meeting new people whole-heartedly. A few of the girls picked glass shards out of the hair of those immediately surrounding them. All were soaked; somehow they were in just the right spot of the gymnasium for the wind to be flinging the rain at them forcefully. Due to the small size of the gymnasium, there was no way for them to get closer to the ground, and Gilbert grumbled under his breath about this indecency. Together, he and Matthew pushed to the top of the group and joined their classes.

"Mr. B, what's gonna happen to us?" a drenched, muscular senior asked softly.

"I do not know," Gilbert answered truthfully, then raised his voice so that the entire school could hear him. "There is no way to know how this storm will end, but we must stay strong. Our awesome building has lasted through at least a century, I believe we will be able to survive a small squall."

There was a general outcry of "what?!" and "who the hell?" from around the bleachers, and Gilbert chose to keep silent rather than continue.

"They're g-going to d-d-die," Matthew whispered in his ear. "The w-walls are c-creaking."

"Mein class, und Herr Williams's class. Attention, bitte." When the group had gone mostly silent, Gilbert said "Ich liebe dich, all of you. You have been the most awesome classes ever."

His statement was greeted with silence, then Matthew added, "Et moi, j'adore vous."

A few of the girls, realizing that this could be the end, burst into a fresh bout of silent tears.

"Mr. Williams, I'm scared," one called out.

"S-sil vous plait call me Matthew."

Gilbert knew the blond was just trying to keep them calm until the ceiling collapsed, so he added "Und my awesome name is Gilbert."

Murmuring in confusion and delight at being trusted with their teacher's names, the majority of both classes broke into grins.

"Gilbert is a sucky name," the muscular senior stated, prodding his teacher with a finger.

"So is Donald," Gilbert returned, just as cheerfully. Holding back a giggle, Matthew squeezed the albino's hand.

A loud creak resounded through the wet gymnasium, sufficiently silencing everyone.

"Gil, this is it."

Gilbert turned to face the tremorless blond, a smile flirting on his lips. "The more scared you are, the less you shake birdie."

The ceiling began to dip inward as the walls started to bulge out. Plaster broke free and would have floated away, had it not been drenched by the pounding rain. A number of students noticed, and many cried out in fear, but the two classes in front of Gilbert and Matthew remained silent.

"Gil?" Matthew whispered, his violet eyes filled with tears.

"Hm?"

"J'adore toi."

With a crunch, the ceiling collapsed.


End file.
